The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2783, The Shackles of the Past
Amidst the swirling smoke, Ni Yongxiao slowly raised his head and saw Magtan Scar, a Bosa man whose hair was already bald but who still exuded a powerful aura, walk in.

Ni Yongxiao nodded slightly, and Scarface nodded in agreement before sitting down opposite him.

Time has passed, and Magtan Scar is no longer the ruthless and vicious bandit he once was. Power and time have smoothed out his rough edges. Now, his eyes are calm, and he has developed excellent manners. In front of Ni Yongxiao, he is more like a composed commander than the bandit leader of the past.

Only those who have witnessed and possessed power truly know what reverence is. Those who constantly claim to look down on certain departments and high-ranking officials simply have never actually stepped into the threshold of power.

Magtan Scar had witnessed it all; he had long understood the true weight of power and knew that any one of those people from the Kingdom of Dawn could wipe him and everything he possessed in an instant.

Ron had never witnessed it. The gradual stabilization of the situation in the Hurt Space made him seem like a spoiled child, believing that the truth of the entire galaxy lay in his fists. But he never knew that those who truly held power could destroy him with a mere glance.

"How have you been lately?" Ni Yongxiao took a puff of his cigarette, squinted, flicked off the ash, and instead of getting straight to the point, started exchanging pleasantries.

“I was originally planning to retire, but… it seems this galaxy won’t let me stay idle. Heh.” Magda Scar chuckled.

Ni Yongxiao waved his finger, and a ceremonial robot came over and brought Magtan-Scar a cigar and a glass of aged Tassbia red wine—a rare delicacy brewed on a tropical planet in the Developer Sector.

They smoked and drank, chatting like old friends.

Ni Yongxiao and Magtan Scar were indeed old friends, perhaps second only to Yuri Orlov in the Kingdom of Dawn.

Since Ni Yongxiao was awakened by Tang Xiao, Tang Xiao tried to get him to participate in the Battle of Malastar Fjord, but found that he had neither interest nor talent in fleet operations. So he sent him back to his old profession, managing the black zone business for the fledgling Fourth Civilization.

To put it bluntly, it's about spices. Behind the spice trade lies the most secretive financial chain in the early days of the Fourth Civilization. This is because many precious spice-producing regions in the outer ring sector were under the control of the Fourth Civilization, especially the Kosher satellite, which produced the top-grade spice "Aura of the Light," and the planet Harlenkal, which produced the side-effect-free spice "Diesel Bark." Spices from these two places were extremely valuable in the inner galaxy.

Ni Yongxiao then went to Tatooine and began his smuggling business.

Naturally, during this process, he met Magtan Scar and partnered with the Scourge in a smuggling business. Those who coveted the Fourth Civilization's spice trade eventually disappeared into the dust of the galaxy—annihilated by the Scourge.

Therefore, McGann Scar and Ni Yongxiao were in a long-term cooperative relationship for a long time, and they quickly became friends.

Ni Yongxiao himself was also changing. After all, when he was awakened, he was just a gang leader, far removed from those other well-known figures. He didn't have any special abilities or superhuman strength; all he had was his intellect.

Before falling into a deep sleep, Ni Yongxiao was a gang leader who constantly outwitted and outmaneuvered the local police. After being awakened, he took over the conflict between races, the continuation of civilization, and the struggle between galaxies!

He had to tread carefully, each step a delicate jeopardy, for the slightest misstep could lead to his utter destruction. Yet he persevered, gradually building his business into a massive empire, skillfully managing the intricate web of vested interests.

After decades, as Ni Yongxiao looked back on his journey, he finally realized that he had become the Dark Emperor of the Dawn Kingdom, controlling a smuggling network that spanned almost the entire galaxy.

But the more this happened, the more he cherished his old friends. Villager was gone, Yuri Orlov was dead, Broderick Stonebreaker was dead, and few of his friends who had fought alongside him in the Hutt Space remained. Fortunately, Magtan Scar was one of them.

The night wind blew across the dunes of Tatooine, and the two men had unknowingly finished an entire bottle of red wine while chatting and reminiscing. Only then did Ni Yongxiao stub out his cigarette in the ashtray—which was already filled with dozens of cigarette butts.

“I do intend to destroy the Scourge.” Ni Yongxiao finally got to the point. “To be honest, given the current situation, the Scourge is useless. The fall of the Galactic Empire is only a matter of time, and after that, our enemy… will be ideology, will be public opinion.”

"So, to fight against ideas and public opinion, must the Kingdom of Dawn guarantee its own innocence?" Magtan-Scar shook his head. "Why don't you think about yourself?"

“I’ve prepared for this,” Ni Yongxiao said frankly. “I never thought I would die peacefully, but there are still many things I can do before I die.”

"Don't you care what's really going on with the Scourge?" Magtan Scar asked. "What kind of being is Orega?"

“The name Orega tells me everything,” Ni Yongxiao said. “Since it’s him, it means the Scourge is finished.”

Magtan Scar gave a bitter laugh and sighed, "Is this the end? Ha... Although I know Ron has only himself to blame, decades of hard work destroyed in an instant, is this really... Is Orega really that powerful? Is the Scourge completely beyond saving?"

“The Protoss’s mind control is a deep-seated control, rooted in the subconscious. In other words, Ron and his group now believe from the bottom of their hearts that they are Orega’s servants. Even if Tang Xiao comes, he can’t save them,” Ni Yongxiao said. “As for Orega, his relationship with Tang Xiao… is that of both ally and enemy.”

"So what will the Scourge do next?" Magtan Scar asked again.

“They will become Orega’s tools, fighting to the death.” Ni Yongxiao lit another cigarette. “Moreover, Orega’s actions are currently in our favor. We will not only not stop them, but we will also find ways to support them. Just as you brought this news, a fleet fully loaded with supplies and Minmatar warship parts has already set off, piloted by robots, to deliver them to Orega. Tang Xiao will support Phoenix’s pursuit, but at the same time, he will maintain the fighting strength of the Fist of Orega. In his view, the two are not contradictory.”

Magtan Scar took a deep breath. The terms Protoss and Phoenix were completely unfamiliar to him, but that did not prevent him from feeling a chilling coldness from Ni Yongxiao's words—the coldness of power.

“Come back, Scarface. Come help me,” Ni Yongxiao said. “You deserve a good ending. Wealth, status, you can have anything you want.”

Magtan Scar remained silent for a long time before slowly asking, "Then, may I rebuild the Scourge?"

Ni Yongxiao shook his head decisively and said, "We will not support this at any level." "That's true... After all, the next enemy is ideology and public opinion..." McGann Scar shook his head self-deprecatingly, stood up and gave Ni Yongxiao a solemn bow, "Well then, I'm leaving."

"Where to?" Ni Yongxiao asked.

“Go…rebuild the Scourge.” Magtan Scar smiled, a smile that carried a hint of relief.

Ah... power isn't always all-powerful, is it?

……

Meanwhile, in an unknown star field, in a remote area of ​​the Qis territory towards the galactic center—the planet Fefze.

A terrible battle is taking place here!

Tens of millions of insect swarms are attacking a fleet of the Kingdom of Dawn like madmen. Among these insect swarms are some giant insects that are tens of meters long, as well as some spaceships or warships covered with tumor-like organic matter that keeps writhing.

Faced with this terrifying swarm of insects, the Dawn Kingdom's fleet appeared outnumbered and outmatched. They had only 20 capital ships, several hundred light cruisers, and over 1000 escort ships.

However, the fleet moved in an orderly manner, carefully arranging itself into a defensive formation to maximize its firepower and hold back the terrifying swarm of insects.

The terrifying insects were incredibly numerous; they could spray acid and even unleash a plasma-cannon-like attack. While such attacks were negligible against a real warship, their sheer numbers, accumulating over time, could cause fatal damage.

This is an endless killing spree that has been going on for two whole days.

Finally, with most of the warships running out of energy, they began to retreat in an orderly manner. The swarm of insects was also unable to stop the hyperspace jump, and the battlefield finally calmed down.

All that remains are the wreckage of hundreds of warships and the corpses of millions of insect swarms.

After the Dawn Kingdom's warships withdrew, the swarm began to devour the corpses of its own kind, with some special insects even swarming to eat the wreckage of the warships! Not only the metal debris, but also the reactor fuel was consumed!
Protected by countless swarms of insects, the distant planet Fitz rotated silently. A dark mass was visible to the naked eye around the planet's perimeter, which was countless insects hovering outside the atmosphere.

Behind us, on the planet Jobri, the Dawn Kingdom's forward base.

Warships that had retreated from the front lines gradually returned to this location and quickly proceeded to the spaceport for maintenance and resupply. However, there were simply too many warships requiring repair, and the spaceport could not accommodate them all. With the efforts of logistics officers, another batch of warships continued to the rear logistics base for repairs.

Countless transport ships crisscrossed the planet's perimeter, delivering massive amounts of supplies to support the frontline operations. Repair platforms operated around the clock, robotic arms working tirelessly within the damaged hulls; amidst sparks, broken armor plates were replaced, and burnt weapon modules were reloaded. The wounded were rapidly transferred to hospital ships at the rear via medical corridors, while replacement crews boarded warships.

What is particularly unique is that among these people, there are many people dressed in white robes moving among the soldiers, each carrying a device that looks like a lantern, which they shine on the soldiers' faces.

All the soldiers who were illuminated by the lanterns immediately felt refreshed, as if all their fatigue had been swept away.

However, some soldiers showed signs of pain and trembled violently after being shone by the lantern. They were then quickly taken away from the scene by the men in white robes and sent to the quarantine area deep inside the base.

The process was far from harmonious; some people even jumped up and made a scene, trying to resist with force, but they were quickly subdued by the combat robots that were on standby.

Meanwhile, in another space station on the outer edge of the planet, the atmosphere in the conference room was somewhat somber.

Admiral Severance Tann of the Dawn Kingdom stood at the head of the table, next to a Cardinal Adela of the Holy Advent Church, who wore a brown robe, her face beautiful and holy beneath the hood, and her long, black hair hanging down from the edge of the hood, making her even more charming.

On the other side was an old acquaintance from the Qis territory, the Protoss high-ranking Templar, Rasdian.

Three more holographic projections appeared on the other side of the conference table: the Evolution Master Abathur, the Governor of the Qis Territory, Sheen Morabito, and the Supreme Military Commander of the Qis, General Ilize Al-Arani Ziara.

These six people are now the highest power core of the Qis territory, and also the core force in this campaign against the suddenly rising Kilik swarm.

“The swarm of insects on Fitz is growing larger and larger. This probing attack still failed to break through their defenses and reach the planet’s surface,” Severance Tann said.

“This number is undoubtedly abnormal! We must find the reason for the surge in the swarm’s numbers!” Rasdian said. “We already have 20 observers searching continuously, but so far we have no results.”

Abathur said, "The reproduction of the swarm is governed by the conservation of energy. Without energy, reproduction is impossible. The energy source of the Kilik swarm is currently unknown. However, it is certain through continuous evolution."

Severance Tann frowned. "We haven't yet reached the core reason for the sudden rise of the Kilik swarm—there are at least several Jedi Knights involved, and they have almost certainly been assimilated into the Kilik swarm. But right now, if we can't break through Fitz, it will be difficult for us to penetrate deep into the Kilik colonies."

“The Path of Unity will guide our way,” Adela prayed, her hands clasped together. “Our priests are requesting an oracle from the Path of Unity. Though they have not yet received a clear answer, they have already detected the psionic link behind the swarm.” (End of Chapter)